Valentine
by RisemboolRanger
Summary: One-shot. Side story to "Changing Bed Sheets". After learning the meaning behind giving Valentines, Andie jumps at the opportunity to get involved for once. She sets to work making her own Valentine in order to show the person she cares about most how important he is to her. Finnian/OC


"Hey! Let me borrow the two of you!"

Andie looked around from the silver candlestick she'd been polishing. The master's young fiancé Lady Elizabeth was gazing at both her and Mey-Rin with an expectant look on her face. She seemed eager about something – so eager that she looked like she was about to burst.

"What do you need, Lady Elizabeth?" Mey-Rin asked politely.

"Not here," Elizabeth hissed, looking up and down the corridor. "Quick, let's go in there!"

Without waiting for a reply she grabbed Andie's arm and dragged her through into one of the nearest rooms. Mey-Rin hastily followed. Sebastian had already invited Elizabeth to the manor several times beforehand – believing that she would be the best candidate for Andie to try and learn better emotions from – but the empath still wasn't quite used to her.

Elizabeth seemed nice and harmless enough, but she was a little forward and _ever_ so loud… Andie had never met anyone like her before. She never quite knew what she was going to do next or how she was supposed to take it. As usual, she kept fairly quiet and let Mey-Rin take the reins instead.

"Lady Elizabeth, what is it?" asked Mey-Rin, a little startled at the younger girl directing them both so urgently into one of the guest rooms.

Elizabeth simply gave them both a wide grin before producing something from behind her back. "Look what I made!"

Andie stared at the thing that she was waving in front of them. It appeared to be a piece of thick parchment that had been folded in two. The front was decorated lavishly with hearts and flowers and swooping black letters that, like most writing, Andie wasn't able to understand.

"Oooh, that's lovely, that is!" said Mey-Rin appreciatively. "Did you make it yourself?"

"Of course I did!" Elizabeth beamed. "What do you think, Andie? Do you think Ciel will like it?"

Andie stared at the decorated parchment that was still being waved in her face. "What is it?"

Elizabeth laughed. "It's a Valentine, silly!"

"But… what's a Valentine?" Andie asked.

Elizabeth looked shocked. "It's what you give to the one you love on Valentine's Day of course! Haven't you ever heard of it?"

Andie shook her head. She'd heard of the holiday itself, but as far as she'd always thought it had been a celebration just for grown-ups. She'd certainly never heard of giving these so-called 'Valentines' to people. She said as much to Elizabeth and Mey-Rin.

"It's not just for grown-ups, Andie," Mey-Rin helped Elizabeth to explain. "Anyone can give them. You just have to give them to somebody who means something to you. Someone important."

"Someone important…" Andie repeated thoughtfully.

"Exactly!" Elizabeth agreed happily. "That's why _I'm_ giving mine to Ciel!"

"I'm sure he'll love it, my lady," Mey-Rin assured her.

"I hope so!" Elizabeth smiled brightly. "What about you, Mey-Rin? Aren't you giving any Valentines this year?"

Mey-Rin's face flooded bright red. "Oh no! I couldn't possibly!" she spluttered.

Elizabeth giggled at her reaction. "Andie, why don't you send a Valentine this year?"

Andie shifted uncomfortably, looking down at her feet. "Um. I don't know…"

Elizabeth looked disappointed with her response. "Oh… Alright then, I suppose you don't have to if you don't want to…" Her face then brightened. "Anyway. I'm going to go and find Ciel!"

"I hope he likes your Valentine, my lady," Mey-Rin called after her.

"Thank you! You're so sweet!"

Once Elizabeth had gone Andie asked Mey-Rin quietly, "Is that really what people do on Valentine's Day?"

Mey-Rin nodded. "Sometimes people don't give cards like Elizabeth. Sometimes they give chocolates or flowers instead. It can be anything really! It's the thought behind it that counts."

"Oh…" Andie mulled the idea over. That sounded better. If she _had_ wanted to give a Valentine then it couldn't have been a card. She couldn't draw very well and she certainly couldn't write – she struggled enough just to read basic words.

"If you want to send a Valentine then you should do it," Mey-Rin advised her kindly. "Like I said, it's the thought that counts. It's nice to know that you could be considered important to someone."

She left Andie to it after that and they carried on with their cleaning. The whole time Andie couldn't stop thinking about the whole Valentine idea. Mey-Rin hadn't asked Andie who she'd give hers to if she did plan on giving one… But then maybe that would have been obvious anyway.

Either way, Andie agreed with Mey-Rin. It would be nice to show someone that they were important to her. She decided she was going to do it. She was going to make her own Valentine to give.

When Sebastian sought her out later with some new knitting patterns for her to start Andie eagerly set to work in the spare guest room that she'd been assigned to. She knitted through the patterns as fast as she could. She'd improved a lot since she'd first started. All she needed now was just a little bit of extra time…

As soon as she felt she had a few minutes to spare she set the patterns aside for now and picked up some different wool. There wasn't going to be much wool leftover to work with if she'd accounted correctly for how much more she'd need for the patterns that Sebastian had given her… She had to get this right first time.

She managed to complete about half of it before conceding that she should finish the other patterns first. She'd likely get into trouble if Sebastian came to check on her and she wasn't working on what she was supposed to. He did that a lot more often now – no doubt trying to get her more used to his presence. Well, at least she'd made a start on her Valentine… She could finish it once she'd completed the patterns.

When Sebastian _did_ come to check on Andie like she'd expected him to she'd already finished the patterns he'd given her and was working on her own project again. Even so, she still jumped guiltily when he entered the room.

"Um, I finished the patterns," she announced hastily, wanting to explain the reason for why she wasn't currently working on what he'd given her.

"You're already working much faster," Sebastian praised her. He glanced at the material in Andie's lap. "And what's this?"

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I thought because I had a little extra time… But I can do more patterns if you need me to?"

"No, that's quite alright," Sebastian smiled knowingly, having seen enough of Andie's little project to guess what it was. "You surpassed the task in the time I gave you, so I'll allow you the exception for today."

"Thank you," said Andie, quiet but grateful.

"Not at all," replied Sebastian. "I'm presuming I'm right in guessing who your gift is for? A certain gardener that we both know perhaps?"

Andie looked down, feeling a little uncomfortable. "I haven't really seen him today," she said by way of answering Sebastian's question.

During the course of the day she usually saw Finnian working outside through the windows. She'd worked around quite a bit of the manor today, but she hadn't noticed him out on the grounds at all. She wondered which section of the gardens he'd been working on this time…

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Sebastian sounded amused, as if he knew something that she didn't. "I'm sure he'll find you later on."

Andie didn't understand. Finnian would come to find _her_? But she was the one who wanted to find _him_. She opened her mouth to ask Sebastian what he meant, but he'd already left the room without her realising. That was strange… But she decided to just concentrate on her Valentine for now. She had to if she wanted to get it finished on time.

When Andie _had_ finally completed her little project she headed on down to the servant's quarters. By that point it was quite late – the sun was already setting in the sky outside – so maybe Finnian had already finished for the day. She heard her name called as she passed through the foyer so she stopped and doubled back.

"There you are, Andie!" Finnian had clearly just come in through the main doors. His usually white shirt and gardener's gloves were streaked with dirt, but he had a big smile on his face. "I was just coming to look for you. I wanted to show you something!"

"Oh… Okay then." Andie obediently followed him outside, wondering what it could possibly be. Was this what Sebastian had been talking about?

"It's round this way," directed Finnian. "But you need to close your eyes first."

"Close my eyes?" Andie repeated.

"Yes. It's a surprise," Finnian smiled. "Don't worry; I'll guide you."

Andie did as he said. He lightly took her hand and led her out across the grass. Andie tried concentrating on her feet over the slightly uneven terrain, all the while still thoroughly confused over what was happening. Finnian had said that he wanted to show her something, but then why wasn't she allowed to look?

"Okay, you can look now!" announced Finnian brightly, letting go of her hand as they came to a standstill.

Andie opened her eyes. They were standing in front of a fresh patch of daisies, arranged painstakingly well within a perfect circle. The earth looked like it had been dug through over and over again. Finnian was known for making mistakes – it had probably taken him ages to get it right.

"You said you liked daisies, right?" Finnian beamed. "They were growing at the back of the manor and Sebastian said to get rid of them. He wanted me to just throw them on the compose heap, but I asked if I could replant them here for you. You can see them from the servant's quarters if you look through the window."

Andie couldn't do anything but stare at the flower arrangement in front of her. She _had_ admitted to Finnian a while back that whilst she didn't know all that much about flowers, daisies were her favourite. They were simple but so pretty. And he'd actually remembered that… Had he really done all of this just for her?

"This is really for me?" she asked delicately.

Finnian gave her a wide smile. "Yeah! I thought it might make you feel a bit happier here if you saw them on a morning when you woke up."

Andie felt almost like she wanted to cry. But she wasn't sad… It was quite the opposite. This was exactly what Sebastian had been trying to teach her to perceive from others. What Elizabeth had been here to help with. What Finnian had just said himself…

For the first time since she could remember, she actually felt _happy_. Nobody had ever done anything like this for her before.

"Thank you so much," she said softly, hiding behind her hair. She was half afraid that she _would_ start crying. She didn't want Finnian to think that she was sad, especially when she felt completely the opposite. "It's beautiful…"

"I'm glad you like it!" Finnian was positively glowing. "I wanted to show you before it got too dark." His smile turned sheepish. "Now I think I'd better go wash up before Sebastian sees what a mess I got into."

"Wait…" Andie grabbed his sleeve like she so often did, as he turned back towards the manor. "I… I have something for you too."

"For me?" Finnian repeated, surprised.

Andie pulled the piece of material that she'd been working on out of her pocket and handed it to him. Still surprised, Finnian took it gingerly and held it up with both hands. It was a roughly woven square of white wool with a red heart knitted into the centre of it.

"Did you make this?" Finnian asked in awe.

Andie nodded. "It's supposed to be a Valentine," she felt the need to explain. "Um, but it didn't turn out as well as I hoped…" The little square of material felt insignificant now compared to the daisy patch.

But luckily Finnian didn't seem to think so. In fact, his cheeks flushed pink. "I love it! I just… I can't believe you made it for me."

Andie shuffled her feet and said nothing, feeling awkward again. She wasn't sure what else to say. Elizabeth and Mey-Rin hadn't really explained what was supposed to happen _after_ you gave somebody a Valentine… Only that you gave them to someone who was important to you.

_Important_… By arranging the daisies for her, did that mean that _she_ was important to Finnian? Like he was important to her?

Sensing that Andie was even more embarrassed than he was, Finnian gently laid a hand on her head and tousled her hair. "Thanks Andie. This has made me happy."

Andie did look up then. Maybe Sebastian hadn't been going the right way about her lessons after all. She didn't need to spend time with the most positive girl around in order to find her own happiness… The only person she needed to spend time with to be happy was the person she _wanted_ to be around.

She smiled back at Finnian in response. "I'm happy too."

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Another chance to work with one-shots and also another new challenge for me, since I normally abhor anything V Day related. But I actually got quite a few Valentines from people this year, and it made me feel kinda guilty for never doing anything myself… So this is my gift to you guys!

Set a little further on into the story, though not really by much. Obviously Elizabeth hasn't appeared in the main story yet, but hopefully the little description was enough to explain why she's important ;)


End file.
